Actress Sandra Ankobiah has through The Women’s Institute organized a breast screening exercise for the people of Madina.
Dubbed ‘Pink Power Breast Screening’ with the tagline ‘cancer is tough but so are you’, the event was held at Madina Market, Wednesday, October 27, 2021. It saw several women in attendance.
Specialists from the Greater Accra Regional Hospital were present to screen participants. The specialists, aside from screening the women, educated them on how to examine their breasts as well as the need to do so.
“The Women’s Institute is my initiative. It’s basically an institution that helps to promote and educate women. We try to empower women whichever way we can. Seeing that October is breast cancer month, we just decided to do a breast cancer screening exercise so that the market women who would usually not get the time or even not know how to check their breasts will come here, we educate them and give them the opportunity to check their breasts”, said Sandra Ankobiah.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer.
According to International Agency for Research on Cancer, there are about 1.7 million new cases and 522000 deaths from breast cancer each year.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and is the most common cause of cancer among women in most countries. In low and middle-income countries, the incidence has been rising steadily due to increased life expectancy, changing reproductive patterns (such as later age at first childbirth and less breastfeeding), and the adoption of western lifestyles, says the Ministry of Health.
According to information available on its website, early diagnosis remains the cornerstone of breast cancer control. When found early, and if adequate diagnosis and treatment are available, there is a good chance that breast cancer can be cured. If detected late, however, curative treatment is often no longer an option. In such cases, treatment may improve quality of life and delay disease progression, while supportive and palliative care should be readily available to relieve suffering for patients and their families.